


Fighting Fate

by scarletbenoitismyrolemodel



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-07-28 17:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7650295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletbenoitismyrolemodel/pseuds/scarletbenoitismyrolemodel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scarlet has lived with the knowledge that her only future is with a monstrous creature and despite her better judgement she's been waiting for it to appear. When her grandmére disappears on routine supply she's forced to depend on a monster she'd hoped didn't exist, and is dragged into a war for the future of a kingdom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Teeth like Knives

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to post this from my Tumblr so it's easier to find and keep in order.

Scarlet had few memories of her mother, and most she was sure were just things other people had told her. But one memory had lodged itself so firmly in her mind that she was certain it had to be real.  
Her mother, who she remembered as a dark-haired giant with light eyes and skin that darkened in the hot summer sun, had taken her into the woods. Scarlet didn’t remember exactly where they went, only that it was far enough from home that she fell asleep on the pony long before they reached their destination. It had to be late summer, not long after her third birthday and one of the last times she would ever see her mother.  
They stopped in a clearing ringed with oak trees so tall they seemed to touch the sky. Her mother had set Scarlet down on the grass while she pulled several odd objects from the pack on their pony’s back. Scarlet couldn’t remember exactly what they were, only that they seemed to be strange fare for a picnic. Her mother tied the horse to a tree and grabbed Scarlet’s hand, swinging their arms gently as she led her back into the trees.  
They came to a house hidden in the roots of a toppled oak, and in her toddler mind Scarlet assumed a fairy lived there. She remembered being very disappointed when a short woman with graying brown hair opened the front door and beckoned them inside. She couldn’t remember what the inside of the house looked like, just the plain wood table the older woman ordered them to sit at.  
Scarlet’s mother pulled out the objects she’d brought and offered them to the woman, her tanned hands shaking somewhat. The woman looked them over skeptically, weighing them in her palms and even licking one before finally nodding. Scarlet didn’t remember most of their conversation, something about money and illness.  
Finally, the older woman turned to her and Scarlet sat up straighter in her seat, fighting the urge to squirm under her intense gaze.  
“You wish to know who she will marry?” she asked, tapping one of the objects against the table. “I can’t imagine why you’d bring her otherwise.”  
“Yes,” Scarlet’s mother smiled. “They say you’ve never been wrong.”  
“I haven’t,” the woman paused but didn’t take her eyes off Scarlet. “But I must warn you, the answer I give might not be what you want to hear.”  
“I only want the truth.”  
“The truth is tricky. If I tell you, you mustn’t try to change fate, it will only spell disaster for her.”  
“Of course I won’t. Please, tell me.”  
The woman sighed and leaned across the table, taking Scarlet’s tiny hand in her rough ones. She closed her eyes for a moment before releasing her and sitting back, her hands moving aimlessly over the offerings before her. Then, suddenly, she stood and paced through the hut, grabbing seemingly random herbs and stones and tossing them into a large bowl that she set on the table. Unable to resist the temptation, Scarlet stood on her chair to get a better look at the contents despite her mother’s attempts to yank her back down. Finally, the woman sat again and dragged the bowl before her, sifting through the plants and stones.  
When she stopped her face was pale, and Scarlet felt her mother’s hand tighten on her arm.  
“I have seen her future husband.”  
“Is he cruel?”  
“I…I cannot say for sure. I don’t believe so.”  
“Poor, then? She’s a tough little thing, she’ll find a way to eek out a living.”  
The woman shook her head and looked at Scarlet, pity in her dark eyes. “I don’t see a poor man, or an earl’s son or even an innkeeper.”  
“What are you-”  
“In her future I see only a beast, a creature of the deep forest beyond my home where magic turns men into monsters.”  
Scarlet’s mother tensed, her chest frozen. “That’s…that’s not possible.”  
“It has teeth like knives and claws sharp enough to rip out a man’s throat. I cannot say what this beast will do, only that she will meet it.”  
Scarlet looked up at her mother, but she hadn’t moved. “She’ll die.”  
“I can’t-”  
“You’re telling me my child will be slaughtered by a beast from your woods.”  
“These are not my woods, forces far beyond my divinations live among the trees and I cannot say what will befall your daughter. Only that the beast will be there.”  
A tear slid down her mother’s cheek and Scarlet reached out to comfort her, but she pulled away as if she’d been burnt. “She’s cursed!”  
“I cannot say-”  
“What else would you call a girl doomed to be ripped apart by a monster?”  
“She may live, my visions aren’t always clear. I do not know what the creature will do, or what its intentions are.”  
“It’s a monster!”  
The next few moments were always a blur in her memory, she only knew that a few minutes later her mother was rushing from the cottage with Scarlet scrambling to keep up on her small legs. The woman didn’t follow them, she simply stood in her doorway and watched them leave.  
“You cannot change fate, child. The beast will come for you.”


	2. Chapter 2

Scarlet tugged her cloak tighter around her neck and bent her head against the wind, hardly guiding her horse as they made their way back to the barn. Snow flurries stung her cheeks and clung to the thick wool of her cloak, her feet were nearly frozen in her heavy boots. The horse, Felipe, walked carefully over the frozen ground, slipping every once in a while as he got used to the ice. The cold snap had come suddenly and nearly a month early, freezing the farm and what was left in the fields with icy rain and wind. The gray clouds that hung over her head promised more rain or, if the temperature dropped again, snow.  
Felipe slipped again and as she caught the pommel while he tried to regain his footing her heavy pack slipped from her shoulder and fell to the ground. She cursed and jumped down, keeping a firm grip on the saddle until her feet were squarely settled on the ground. Ice crunched under her boots as she scooped up her bag and threw it over her back, the strap securely fastened across her chest. She checked Felipe’s hooves to make sure a stone hadn’t gotten lodged in them and climbed back onto his back, clicking her tongue to get him moving again.  
The woods were quieter than usual, she was used to the ambient noise of life with winter still several weeks off. Even the squirrels were quiet, not scrambling over each other in a mad dash to hoard as many acorns as possible before the snow fell. She’d hoped to catch a few for dinner, but it would probably be another night of stale bread and whatever pickled vegetable she could find in the cellar.  
Felipe froze suddenly and she grumbled, kicking him with the thick heel of her boot to get him moving again. He didn’t move, his eyes locked on something in the trees she couldn’t make out. He huffed and took a few steps back, his ears pressed down on his head. Scarlet reached back for her cross bow with one hand and kept the other wrapped tight around the pommel.  
Something dark moved suddenly and Felipe reared, throwing Scarlet backwards as he stumbled back. She cursed again and held on with all her might, trying to lift the crossbow and keep herself off the ground. He fell back down on all fours and she scrambled to get a good look at the trees, holding the crossbow with both hands. Before she could aim Felipe reared again, sending her tumbling off his back.  
She yanked her feet free of the stirrups rather than risk breaking her ankle and hit the frozen ground on her hip and shoulder. She hissed through her teeth and suppressed a cry of pain. The crossbow was still gripped in her unharmed hand, she tried to concentrate on aiming it into the trees.  
Nothing moved and she lay there for so long the cold started seeping through her cloak and dulled the pain in her side. She couldn’t hear Felipe’s panicked galloping and the unnatural quiet of the forest closed in on her again. Her breath came out in puffs as snow flurries started to fall around her.  
Finally, she lowered the crossbow and stood, brushing dirt off her cloak and dress. Her hip was definitely badly bruised and she grimaced as she made her way towards the trees where she’d last seen the shadow. It had been big and with the cold coming she couldn’t risk it being a bear on her property, the animals were already stressed without a predator wandering nearby.  
A growl shattered the silence and she raised the crossbow again, gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white. She whipped around in time to see a massive black creature walking towards her, its ear pulled back and long fangs bared. She pulled the trigger.  
The bolt slammed into its shoulder, it stumbled and collapsed. She reloaded with cold accuracy and stalked towards it, raising the crossbow again and aiming it at the beast’s face.  
“Please,” it gasped. “Please don’t.”   
Her heart stuttered and she paused, keeping the crossbow aimed squarely between the beast’s eyes.  
“What?” she snapped. “What did you just say?”  
It stared up at her in silence.  
“What did you say?” she shouted through her teeth. “If you won’t repeat it right now I’ll shoot you dead.”  
“Please,” its voice was raspy and weak. “Don’t.”  
She nearly dropped the crossbow but set her jaw stubbornly and readjusted her grip. There was no denying it now, the creature could speak and it looked more afraid now than dangerous.  
“What the hell are you doing on my property?”  
“I can’t-” it growled with frustration and she tightened her grip on the crossbow. “My side, it’s- I can’t-”  
Its impossibly green eyes rolled back and his head flopped onto the ground. She narrowed her eyes and nudged it with the crossbow but it didn’t stir.  
“Oh no,” she snapped. “Oh hell no. Wake up!”  
She kicked its side viciously, but it was like kicking a wall. It didn’t move, except for the shallow pants that lifted it flank just enough to prove it was still alive. Scarlet huffed and slung her crossbow over her shoulder once she was certain it wouldn’t wake up. She yanked her hands through her hair, catching hidden knots she’d missed that morning, and rubbed her face. Every time she looked down at the creature she hoped it would disappear into the frozen ground, taking the sour feeling in her stomach with it.  
Scarlet sat on the frozen ground beside the beast and looked at the bolt wound. It bled sluggishly, hardly deep enough or in a place vital enough to bring down an animal this big. It had been muttering about his side before he collapsed and she carefully brushed the dark brown fur aside. Its flank was sticky and under a layer of fur she found a massive gash running from its front shoulder joint to its last rib. She swallowed down her nausea when she caught the rotting smell of infection and let the fur fall back over the wound.  
The creature was massive and vaguely wolf shaped with a long snout and ears that sat straight on its head but it was at least twice the size of the wolves she was used to seeing. She carefully peeled back one of its eyelids and a blank human eye stared back at her. She shivered and let it fall back, dread crawled up her spine. Its teeth were just barely visible in its partially open mouth, enough for her to see the sharp points. Black claws protruded from the paw closest to her. Bile rose to the back of her throat. Teeth like knives and claws sharp enough to rip out a man’s throat. She shook her head to clear the old woman’s words from her mind but the sense of dread didn’t subside.  
“It’s just a stupid superstition,” she muttered to herself, standing again. “That’s all. Just a stupid superstition.”  
But the monster at her feet was too real to ignore. Some part of her wanted to shoot it between the eyes like she would any other wounded predator on her farm. If it was a bear, or even a normal wolf, she wouldn’t have thought twice about killing it before it attacked her or one of her animals. But she couldn’t shake the memory of it speaking and staring up at her with eyes so human she couldn’t help but feel bad for it. It hadn’t even tried to attack her and she had a feeling that even with her crossbow she would have been no match for those claws.  
A branch snapped to her left and she whirled around, reaching for the crossbow again. Felipe stared at her from a few feet away and huffed loudly, steam rose from his nostrils.  
“There you are, you coward.” She walked over to him and stroked his nose. “I was afraid I’d have to track you down.”  
He leaned into her hands but didn’t take his eyes off the monster just a few feet away.  
“What do you think?” she murmured. “Should I just leave it out here, hope the elements kill it for me?”  
She glanced back at the creature and couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. Felipe huffed again and she patted his nose as she moved to check the buckles holding the saddle in place. Every few seconds she looked back at the monster, hoping it would just stop breathing and make the decision for her or come back into the waking world and give her a reason to shoot it. But it just lay there, blood pooling around it and starting to congeal on the frozen ground.  
“I’m losing it,” she muttered. “I’m going mad, just like everyone in town said I would.”  
She had nothing to drag it with, and putting it on Felipe’s back was a disaster just waiting to happen even if she managed to get it up there. Finally, she climbed back into the saddle and kicked Felipe into a hard run back to the barn, a part of her hoped that when she came back the creature would be gone.

The sled was stuck behind a pile of hay and she spent nearly ten minutes just wrestling the thing out of the barn. Petunia, the cranky old dairy cow, watched her and chewed on dry grass. Scarlet glared back at her as she tied ropes onto the front of the sled and secured the other ends to Felipe’s saddle. By the time she got back out into the forest the sun was going down and the air had gotten even chillier. The snow flurries were beginning to turn into real snowfall but the sled’s runners still scraped against the dirt.  
The beast was exactly where she’d left it, still unconscious. Felipe shied away when she tried to ride him closer and she finally had to jump down and drag him close enough to use the sled. She surveyed the creature and looked for the best way to get it on without injuring it, but she finally settled on grabbing it around the middle and dragging as well as she could. She kept her knife tucked in her boot in case it woke up and she couldn’t reach her crossbow and wrapped her arms around its ribs. It weighed a ton and it took several minutes of loud cursing and tugging to get its front half onto the sled. From there she just dragged the rest of it on, but it was so long she had to tuck its back legs in so they wouldn’t drag against the ground.  
All the jostling had made the wounds worse and there was blood all over the ground and on her hands and arms. She wiped the worst of it off on her skirt and tried to ignore the gritty feeling under her fingernails as she climbed back into the saddle.  
Felipe practically ran back to the barn and she kept glancing back to make sure he hadn’t accidentally knocked the sled loose. It bounced on the frozen ground but the ropes held strong and the creature didn’t slip. She let Felipe lead the way back to the barn while she kept an eye on the sled.  
The sense of dread still hadn’t subsided and as the barn became visible through the trees the witch’s words echoed in her mind again.  
The beast will come for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes with a warning for gore, it's nothing beyond some blood and mention of wounds. Sorry for the late update but turns out starting a new project at the beginning of the school year wasn't my best decision.

Scarlet considered leaving the creature in the barn, but her cow mooed loudly and swung her head the moment she opened the barn door. With winter coming she couldn’t risk stressing out her only source of fresh milk so she walked Felipe to the kitchen door, untied the sled and dragged it through the door. The horse was long gone by the time she got the creature into her kitchen, probably hiding in the barn.   
Blood dripped onto the stone floor and pooled beneath the sled. She set an old blanket down on the floor and rolled the creature onto it, wincing when its head flopped heavily onto the ground. She pushed the sled back out and shut the door against the cold.   
Her grandmother had a half dozen books, all hand-written, unorganized and at least twenty years older than Scarlet herself. She didn’t recognize any of the different handwritings, none of them matched the quick, orderly notes her grandmother made in the margins. She’d read the various histories so many times she had them practically memorized, but the healer’s manual went mostly untouched. Her grandmother would look through it if one of them was injured but anything serious enough to warrant real study called for a real healer from town.   
Scarlet pulled back the threadbare carpet and dug the floorboards loose with fingers still covered in blood. The small green book was in much better shape than the others, all of its pages were still miraculously intact, but she handled it carefully nonetheless. She handled it with the clean edge of her skirt to avoid getting any blood on it and rushed back down the stairs.   
The creature still hadn’t moved when she returned to the kitchen, but she still paused in the doorway when she saw its immense body stretched out on her floor. Its side rose and fell with each wet, labored breath. Her crossbow wasn’t much use in such close quarters but she had a short hunting knife hidden in her boot and pulled it free. She thunked it down on the table in case the creature was lucid enough to hear it.   
She had a pail of water from her morning chores by the stove and used it to rinse her hands before handling the book again. The pages were fragile and stuck together, but the book was organized well enough that she easily found the passage she was looking for. She read it slowly, stumbling over a few terms she’d never seen before, but she understood it well enough.   
She lit the wood stove and stuck the poker into the flames. The creature didn’t move when she grabbed the knife again and crouched beside it on the ground. Blood still ran freely from the wound in its side and this close the smell of rot and infection was almost overpowering. The fur under her hands was rough when she pulled it away from the wound and started to saw it off with the knife. She tried not to breathe through her nose but the smell covered her tongue. Heat came off the long wound in waves as blood continued to flow sluggishly from the wound.   
When she returned to the stove the metal was glowing a dull red. She wrapped her hand in her skirt, grabbed the cooler end and crouched beside the creature again. It still didn’t move.   
She pressed the red-hot metal to the wound and one impossibly green eye snapped open as the beast tried to rise.   
It took all her self-control not to run when she saw its mouth open, those long teeth bared in fury. Instead she pushed harder, blocking out the worsening smell, and the creature screamed. The sound was so human, so terrified, that she felt a twinge of pity before she locked the thought down along with her revulsion.   
“Your wound is infected,” she snapped when the creature tried to pull away again. “And if that doesn’t kill you, you’ll bleed out right here.”   
It whimpered, but stayed remarkably still as she worked down the wound. The beast kept quiet for the most part, letting out only a few more whines and whimpers before going silent altogether. Halfway through she realized it had finally passed out from the pain.

When she finally finished the wound was ugly, puckered and red but the bleeding had finally stopped. She checked the beast quickly for any other wounds and realized that not only had her bolt been nowhere near lift-threatening but its wound had completely healed. Her hands shook from fatigue and a hint of fear as she searched for any sign of it and found only a small bit of scar tissue. She tossed the rod away and swept her hair out of her face and off her clammy neck. She stood and winced when she saw the blood covering her skirt and boots. The dress was old, she could probably rip it up and use the scraps for insulation in the chicken coop, but her boots were only a few months old and she couldn’t afford a new pair. She kicked them off and hunkered down at the table to scrub them clean of the slowly drying blood.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are appreciated, I have another few chapters to add and after that I'll try to update about once a week.


End file.
